A voice could be heard from heaven as Jesus was being baptized, saying:“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased” (Mat. 3:17 LEB). Then in the wilderness when tempted by the devil, it can be seen that as a true son his main concern was to please his father, not himself. My pastor brought up something interesting one time about this temptation; he was questioning whether this was an inner or an outer experience with Christ? Because before the Cross Jesus prayed: “O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will”(Mat. 26:39 NKJV), implying that he had a personal will.And the answer to this prayer came to pass, as “we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom. 6:6 NIV).“We are certain that if one person died for everyone else, then all of us have died. And Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the one who died and was raised to life for us”(2nd Cor. 5: 14-15 CEV).“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God “ (Eph. 2:8 NIV); andthis is misunderstoodby almost everyone.The truth is, Salvation is not the gift, Christ is. That’s in view of the fact that “through one act of righteousness the free gift came unto all men to justification” (Rom. 5:18 ASV). “We hope in the living God who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe” (1st Tim. 4:10 NCV). Furthermore faith is the thing that is not from yourselves; “after all, not everyone has faith” (2ndThes. 3:2 CEV). And faith couldn’t be from ourselves anyway; “for I Know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh”(Rom. 7:18 NRSV).And even righteousness is not my own,“but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:9 KJV). “You have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God” (Rom. 8:12-14 NLT). “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1st Pet. 1:23 KJV). “By his sacrifice he removed the hostility of the Law, with all its commandments and rules, and made in himself out of the two, Jew and Gentile, one new man” (Eph. 2:15 Phillips). Now”the important thing is being the new people God has made” (Gal. 6:15 NCV). Not by trying to change for the better, as that would be denying who he is, and what he has done. Because simply believing God is the way of faith, and the first thing in “being”,not becoming, Gods new people. If what God did, wasn’t done first, what would there be to have faith in?“So faith comes from hearing the message. And the message that is heard is the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17 NIRV). “Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teaching.Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. ”They responded, “We are Abraham’s children; we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. How can you say that we will be set free?” Jesus answered, “I assure you that everyone who sins is a slave to sin.A slave isn’t a permanent member of the household, but a son is.Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you really will be free.I know that you are Abraham’s children, yet you want to kill me because you don’t welcome my teaching. I’m telling you what I’ve seen when I am with the Father, but you are doing what you’ve heard from your father” (John 8:31-38 CEB).The promise of what we have in Christ “is on the condition that you continue in faith without being moved from the solid foundation of the hope that the Good News contains” (Col. 1:23 GW). “Christ was faithful as a Son over His own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end (Heb.3: 6 KJ21).“We belong to Christ if we hold firmly to the faith we had at first” (Heb.3: 14 NIRV). “Seeing he ever liveth to make intercession” (Heb.7:25 KJV), praying“that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32 KJV). So: “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:16-18 NASB). When we don’t walk by the Spirit, we of necessity walk in the flesh, or under the law, as “everything that does not come from faith is sin” (Rom. 14:23 NIV), “and the law is not of faith”(Gal.3:12 KJV). Of all people,“the one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil”(1st John 3:7-8 KJV).Because “there is none good but one, that is, God” (Mat. 19:17 KJV), and“anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Mat. 5: 37 NIV). “You are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness” (Rom. 6:16 ESV). “A good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Mat. 7:18 NIV); and anyone knows fruit can’t be good or bad of itself! And could Jesus be referring to the two trees in the center of Garden of Eden? Jesus said he was going to the Cross, and one of his disciples took offence at that. So Jesus said to him: “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Mat. 16:23 TNIV). Jesus told it like it is; because the truth is, there is in fact only good and evil, and it’s most evil to be against the Cross. And now I know where I stand, not because I’m good, but because I’m evil. But: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20 KJV). Jack Parnell3537 N. Governeour Cr.Wichita, Kansas 67226